happiness
by hitokiri-tokiya
Summary: what if... Tomoe had lived?


(disclaimer: RK does not belong to me. This is my first RK fic, so please be kind. I liked Kaoru. Then I met Tomoe. She shouldn't have died. So I thought of this story and I hope you guys enjoy it. Yorushiku onegaishimasu. ^_^x)  
  
happiness  
  
In the moment that he would have brought the blade down in the killing strike, his senses, dulled by the pain both in his body and in his heart, were suddenly shocked back into wakefulness when he suddenly smelled it.  
  
Her scent, the one of endless flowers.  
  
Hakoubai-kou.  
  
His eyes, swollen and barely able to see anything through the film of blood that covered them, snaps open and he sees her standing between him and the Oniwabanshu assassin.  
  
She was trying to protect him.  
  
"Stupid woman." he hears the man's voice utter, and then he pushes her away. He sees her fall, hears her hurt sound as she strikes the ground, and tries to call out to her but he could only whisper.  
  
"Tomoe!"  
  
The assassin chooses that moment to attack, aiming the small dagger for a straight thrust between the hitokiri's eyes.  
  
He misses, and next he knew there was a sword buried in his throat. Blood, red and warm, gushes forth. He feels the sword twisted inside his neck before it is withdrawn, to ensure the maximum damage is inflicted, and he feels incredible pain unlike anything he has ever known. And he understands he is dead.  
  
As he falls his eyes meet the cold eyes of the Hitokiri Battousai. They burned golden in that cold winter light, and he felt afraid of him then. His eyes looked too much like a demon's, and he was actually glad to fall into the waiting darkness.  
  
The wind seemed to blow colder, and the snow continued to descend. The place where they had fought looked dirty, as the snow covering the ground there is no longer white because of the blood they had soaked.  
  
Slowly he turns to face Tomoe, looking up at him still fallen, with such sadness and regret.  
  
A soft ache tugs gently at his heart as he looks at her. And unbidden he sees her in the eye of his memory, he was suddenly back to that moment when his eyes had first found her, for what he now feels is that same ache that he had felt when he had first seen her. It was the kind of ache one would feel when you see someone so beautiful that everything else seems to fade into nothing, and all you see is her standing there in front of you, yet at the same time you feel so afraid that what you see is but a dream, that when your heart reaches out for her you hold it back, afraid that if you touch her she will disappear as if mist.  
  
Nothing has changed, he realizes. If despite all that has happened, all that he now knows, that ache has remained, then, truly nothing has changed.  
  
"G- Gomen nasai." he hears her say, as a tear falls from her eye, which quickly freezes and glitters like diamonds on her cheek in the cold wind.  
  
(I still love you.)  
  
"Tomoe." he calls softly. He steps forward, but with his strength almost gone after all his battles, he falls down on his knees.  
  
He looks at her. So much he wanted to say, but the blood dripping into his eyes, the pain numbing his body, confuses him. He could only look at her, wondering how to ask for her forgiveness, fearing she would not give it.  
  
Nothing has changed.  
  
The desire to protect her. the desire to care for her.  
  
It's still there.  
  
(Love.)  
  
"Tomoe." He smiles gently. "We should. go home now."  
  
Unbelieving at first, fear and guilt forming confusion, she could not do anything. But, looking into his eyes, she sees clearly the warmth there, the compassion. And something else, something that made her heartbeat go just a little faster.  
  
She remembers the night before, every detail, every thought, every feeling. His touch, his passion. They had made love, and he had promised to protect her and she believed that promise with all her heart, and she had seen how he looked at her now and she knew then that she had found the one thing she thought she had lost forever.  
  
She had found her happiness.  
  
But, knowing the dark promise she had made to gain vengeance by taking his life. and the plot she had willingly entered into to accomplish this desire. when he learns of everything, what would he think of her then.?  
  
She had left him, letting go of her happiness of her own will now as. as punishment to herself, perhaps. for giving in to the dark desire of murder. She would finish the plot against him, and go on her way alone. Alone. as she should be. As. as she deserved to be.?  
  
But. but he is here. and he has saved her, and he tells her he wants her to come back home.  
  
Home. with him.  
  
(How could you.?  
  
(I wanted to kill you!  
  
(Why? Why are you still here.?)  
  
Maybe, just maybe, everything will turn out all right.  
  
Forgiveness.  
  
She dares to hope, and reaches out for him.  
  
When a deafening shriek suddenly rips through the cold air.  
  
"GYAAAAAAAAAARRGHH!"  
  
It chilled the blood, for it was filled with such intense hatred, pain, jealousy. Containing only such dark emotions, the voice sounded as if it had lost its humanity.  
  
Looking at the one who had shrieked, you would've been afraid.  
  
"GET AWAY FROM HER!!! GET AWAY GET AWAYGETAWAYG-E-T A-W-A-Y!!!!!!"  
  
Yukishiro Enishi was crying. But his eyes burned as if with madness, his face contorted by his rage. He was running quickly toward them, the old umbrella raised.  
  
He strikes Kenshin savagely with it as he was down, again and again and again, bringing fresh blood, despite Tomoe yelling at him to stop.  
  
It's for you, onee-sama, all for you. The only thought running through his mind. He was screaming as he kept striking.  
  
Until she came between them.  
  
She covered the hitokiri in her embrace, and in his shock he was frozen.  
  
"Stop it, Enishi."  
  
She was angry with him. But he had done nothing! He only wanted to help her get her revenge! It's what she wants right? But why is she looking at me that way now? Why are you protecting him now?  
  
Why?  
  
WHY?  
  
"N- Naze. onee-sama." The umbrella slips off from his hands. His voice trembled, his emotions in a confused whirl as they do not know how they should be.  
  
"He killed him! He was the one who took your happiness away! He. he made you sad!  
  
"So. why? Why are you protecting him now?  
  
"Onee-sama. Naze. tell me.  
  
"Tell me."  
  
He wanted to scream his words, but could not. He felt as if. as if he had been betrayed. by his own sister, the one person he truly loved.  
  
A mistake. yes. that's it. there must be a mistake.  
  
"Because, he has given me back my happiness." Tomoe answers him simply.  
  
Kenshin looks at her, but could not find words to speak. But his heart, his heart was filling with emotions he had not known before, with that warmth he only ever felt when he was with her.  
  
And it felt so good.  
  
She tells him then.  
  
"You promised me. last night. to protect my happiness.  
  
"My happiness is you.  
  
"That's why. that's why. I want to be with you."  
  
Words he had never thought he wanted to hear. And gently, he pulls her closer. And tells her.  
  
"You are my happiness, too.  
  
"Aishiteru, Tomoe."  
  
"Aishiteru, Kenshin."  
  
How does it feel to confess your love for someone and then to have that person tell you they feel the same way about you? To finally know what you truly mean to someone. To know that this person that you are willing to do everything for, would do the same for you. To love without reserve, without limitation. to love freely, as was meant to be.  
  
Yukishiro Tomoe and Himura Kenshin would know.  
  
"Come on, he is hurt. We need to take him to the doctor." Enishi was helping Kenshin to his feet. He had seen what he meant to his sister, and so for her, he would forgive him.  
  
For now.  
  
"I love my sister, I really do. That's why I will warn you, if you make her cry again, I will kill you."  
  
"Enishi." Kenshin speaks. They look at each other, their eyes neutral. "I will remember your words."  
  
Tomoe heard them.  
  
It was fearful to hear such words, but it was a start. It was a start.  
  
********  
  
He was awakened from his recollections.  
  
Nine months ago. All of it had happened nine months ago.  
  
A turning point in his life.  
  
What had taken him away from his reverie?  
  
The scar on his left cheek was gone now. But he would not forget about it, he was certain of that.  
  
Is that.?  
  
He was remembering his past, trying to keep his mind occupied so it would not worry so much. So this is how it feels.  
  
And then he hears it again.  
  
Yes.  
  
A baby crying.  
  
His anxiety leaves him, surprisingly quick, as intense relief, joy, delight, fills him in its stead. The waiting is over, and he was very glad about it. He would wait no more.  
  
He quickly enters the house, and into her room.  
  
There were two of them, he realizes.  
  
"You have twins." The midwife tells him as she passes him by when she exits.  
  
Tomoe was holding a child in each arm, wrapped in blankets. They were quieting now, perhaps knowing that they are safely in their mother's arms, who would care for them and love them with all her heart. She looked tired, but her face shone as an angel's would in her happiness, and once more he feels that soft ache in his heart.  
  
Nothing, nothing has changed.  
  
He kneels beside her, and she tenderly hands him one of their children.  
  
"A boy and a girl." She smiles a most beautiful smile, one that would make anyone who sees her dream of her forever after.  
  
He kisses her softly, and says, "They're both so beautiful. Just like their mother."  
  
"Her name is Tomoyo." She tells him. "And. his name is.?"  
  
".Kenji." He smiles at his family. "His name is Kenji."  
  
He kisses both of his children, and then Tomoe again as he whispers.  
  
"Aishiteru."  
  
She answers, "Aishiteru, Shinta."  
  
THE END 


End file.
